Volume 22 · Issue 1

Blake in the Marketplace, 1987

BY ROBERT N. ESSICK

The 1987 Blake market came in like a lamb and went out like a tyger. The spring auctions and dealers’ catalogues offered no Blake drawings, no important separate plates, and only a single posthumous impression from one of Blake’s illuminated books (see illus. 1). In contrast, November and December brought forth the rediscovery and sale of America copy R and a previously unrecorded copy of that curious broadside, Little Tom the Sailor. The fall of 1988 promises an equal display of treasures, for Christie’s New York will place on the auction block three Blake rarities from the Edward L. Doheny Memorial Library: Songs of Innocence copy N, Blake’s letter to John Linnell of 2 July 1826, and a water color Blake painted for Thomas Butts c. 1805, The Infant Jesus Saying His Prayers (Butlin #473).

The market’s response to artists associated with Blake showed exceptional strength for most high quality items, but a weaker performance in the middle and lower ranges. What are very probably modern auction records were set for a print by James Barry (£935—see illus. 6), a sketch by J. H. Mortimer (Salvator Rosa, £4620), an erotic sketch by Fuseli (Callipyga, sold in November 1986 for £24,200), a painting by Linnell (Harvest Dinner and Noonday Rest, each at £46,200), and a post-Shoreham water color by Palmer (The Brothers in Comus Lingering Under the Vine, £63,800). Yet, within the same auction season, several oil sketches by Linnell failed to find buyers and Palmer’s lovely water color of c. 1851, Sheep in the Shade, failed to exceed its reserve (i.e., the price below which an auction lot will not be sold).

Books with Blake’s commercial illustrations continued to appear with reasonable regularity. Complete copies of the Job engravings are increasingly rare and dear, as demonstrated by the eye-popping auction record established by a published “proof” set on laid India at Christie’s on the first of December, £30,800. The market also provided at least one scrutable prophecy: the only two copies of Blake’s Night Thoughts offered at auction were purchased by Japanese dealers.

The year of all sales and catalogues in the following lists is 1987 unless noted otherwise. The auction houses listed in the Abbreviations add their purchaser’s surcharge to the hammer price in their price lists. These net amounts are given here, following the official price lists. Several late 1987 auctions, for which price lists are not yet available, will appear in the 1988 review. Copy designations and plate numbers for the illuminated books follow G. E. Bentley, Jr., Blake Books (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977). “Butlin#—” refers by entry number to Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake (New Haven & London: Yale Univ. Press, 1981), 2 vols.

I am grateful for help in compiling this list to Shelley Bennett, G. E. Bentley, Jr., Detlef Dörrbecker, Edwin Epps, Richard Godfrey of Sotheby’s, Alexander Gourlay, Robert Halsband, William Plomer of Agnew’s, Justin Schiller, David Weinglass, and especially Thomas Lange.

ABBREVIATIONS

BBA	Bloomsbury Book Auctions, London
cat.	catalogue or sales list issued by a dealer (usually followed by a number or letter designation) or auction house (followed by the day and month of sale)
CL	Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London
CNY	Christie, Manson & Woods, New York
illus.	the item or part thereof is reproduced in the catalogue
pl(s).	plate(s)
SL	Sotheby’s London
SNY	Sotheby’s New York
st.	state of an engraving, etching, or lithograph
Swann	Swann Galleries, Inc., auctioneers, New York
#	auction lot or catalogue item number

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ILLUMINATED BOOKS

America, copy R. CNY, 13 Nov., #46, pls. 1, 2, 10 illus. color ($176,000 to the London dealer Libby Howie, apparently for an anonymous client). For an illustrated description of this copy, see Essick, “The Resurrection of America Copy R,” Blake (spring, 1988): 138-42.

America, pl. 7 only. Posthumous impression in pale brick red; not listed in Bentley, Blake Books. SL, 29 June, #314, slight surface dirt, “laid down at edges to support sheet, . . . bound in modern marbled boards, morocco spine,” illus. (bought-in at £5000 on an estimate of £8000-10,000). See illus. 1.

DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS

Head of a Young Man, possibly Antinous. From the Blake-Varley sketchbook. Pencil, sheet 15.5 × 20.5 cm. Butlin #692.86. Given by Robert Halsband to the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, in 1986.

SEPARATE PLATES & PLATES IN SERIES, INCLUDING PLATES EXTRACTED FROM PRINTED BOOKS

“Beggar’s Opera, Act III.” The Print Room, London, Aug. private offer, 4th st., image trimmed approx. 7 mm. at top (£2 to Edwin Epps).

“Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims.” CL, 14 April, #13A, 5th st., Sessler restrike, some staining, tears (£440). CL, 19 May, #40, 5th st., Colnaghi restrike, water stains, discolored, framed (not sold; estimate £440-600). W. & V. Dailey, Dec. private offer, 5th st., Colnaghi restrike on laid India ($3500).

“Fertilization of Egypt,” after Fuseli, from Darwin, Botanic Garden, 1791. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #100, illus. ($275).

“Hawker, Rev. Robert.” SL, 1 Dec. 1986, #171, with “Wilson Lowry,” apparently final st., “Rev. John Caspar Lavater,” apparently final st., “and another” (not sold; estimate £400-500). The “Hawker” impression is probably the same one offered CL, 13 May 1986, #53 (not sold).

Job. SL, 4 Dec. 1986, #165, proofs on laid India complete, bound in half morocco, pl. 3 illus. (Davidson, £6930). Swann, 18 Dec. 1986, #9, pls. 3 and 16 only, 1874 issue ($375). Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #96-99, 4 pls. only, published proofs on French paper (pls. 6, 21) or laid India (pls. 7, 19), all illus. ($1340 each). CL, 14 April, #13, pl. 18 only, published proof on wove paper, minor defects (£220). Craddock & Barnard, Aug. private offer, pl. 9 only on laid India (£370). F. Mulder Prints, Oct. cat. 10, #32, published proofs on laid India, original(?) green boards, “old label on spine,” foxed, title-page and pl. 13 illus. ($24,000). CL, 1 Dec., #201, complete published proofs on laid India, few foxmarks in margins, later blue cloth boards, scuffed, pl. 13 illus. (£30,800 on an estimate of £8000-12,000).

Virgil wood engravings. SL, 12 Oct., #570, Blake’s 11th cut only (Colinet by a stream), mounted on a card, with 14 pls. for Aesop’s Fables by other hands (Fogg, £88). SL, 29 Oct, #117, Blake’s 4th and 9th cuts only, on laid India (i.e., the Linnell reprints), slight surface dirt (£330).

BOOKS WITH ENGRAVINGS BY & AFTER BLAKE

Allen, New and Improved History of England, 1798. C. R. Johnson, Aug. cat. 21, #9, with the engraved chart (not by Blake) usually absent, contemporary sheep, worn, pl. 3 illus. (£325).

Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1783. Jeffrey Stern, Aug. cat. 6, #214, 5 vols., “sumptuous contemporary red morocco” binding (£350).

Blair, The Grave. SL, 4 Dec. 1986, #167, 1813 “folio,” original boards, spotted (Davidson, £200); #169, 1808 quarto, cloth-backed boards, trimmed, with Blake’s Dante Illustrations, 1922, and Night Thoughts water colors, 1927 (Hirsch, £330). Jeffrey Stern, Jan. cat. 5, #458, 1808 quarto in “original blind decorated gilt lettered cloth” (and thus an 1870 remainder issue?), some spotting, with Blake’s 4 pls. for Lavater’s Physiognomy inserted loose (£425). Swann, 4 June, #41, 1808 quarto, foxed, worn ($250). George Houle, June cat. 41, #402, 1808 quarto, uncut, original cover label affixed to front pastedown, 3/4 morocco over marbled boards ($1500). Appelfeld Gallery, June cat. 44, #44, 1808 quarto, slight foxing, rebacked ($650). Ben Abraham Books, July cat., #12, 1808 quarto, untrimmed, some foxing, bookplate of Paul Hyde Bonner ($1500). California Book Auction, 30 July, #23, 1808 quarto, 3 pls. heavily foxed, binding broken (estimate $200-250). Tokyo International Antiquarian Book Fair, Nov. cat. 127, #730, “folio,” soiled, “first edition of the plates without the text” (i.e., 1870 portfolio?), offered by Ursus Books ($1250).

Bonnycastle, Introduction to Mensuration, 1794. Anthony Laywood, Jan. cat. 52, #23 (£48); same copy(?), W. & V. Dailey, May private offer ($200).

Bryant, New System . . . of Ancient Mythology, 1774-1776. Sevin Seydi, May cat., #439, 1st ed., worn (£250). Heritage Book Shop, Nov. cat. 167, #31, 2nd ed., light foxing ($450). BBA, 22 Oct., #41, 1st ed., worn (Diba, £165).

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Coade, Eleanor. A Descriptive Catalogue of Coade’s Artificial Stone Manufacture, London, c. 1778-1779. James Burmester, April cat. 6, #A (£3500). Burmester speculates interestingly on the possibility that the first pl., showing a statue of a “River God,” was engraved by Blake, as S. B. Hamilton claims in the Architectural Review, vol. 116, no. 695, on the basis of unstated evidence. Like hundreds of other unsigned pls. of the period, this one, etched in a free style similar to pls. by and after J. H. Mortimer, may be by Blake, but there is simply no evidence for such an attribution.

Cumberland, Thoughts on Outline, 1796. Blackwell’s, Oct. cat. A89, #120, slight foxing, modern quarter leather (£300).

Darwin, Botanic Garden, SL, 6 Oct. 1986, #767, 1st ed. of Part I, 3rd of Part II, 2 vols., spotted, rubbed (Bookroom, £66). CL, 12 Dec. 1986, #60, 1st ed. of Part I, 2nd of Part II, with Darwin, Phytologia, 1800 (Baskett & Day, £1210—a price, paid by a very classy art dealer, that suggests that this lot contained more than the catalogue description indicates). Jeffrey Stern, Jan. cat. 5, #456, 3rd ed. of both Parts bound in 1 vol., fancy binding (£425). Walford, April cat. H/147, #282, 3rd ed. of Part I, 4th of Part II (£300). Sims, Reed & Fogg, June cat. 89, #37, 1st ed. of Part I, 3rd of Part II, slight water stains (£260). BBA, 20 Aug., #436, 1st ed. of Part I, 3rd of Part II, worn, covers detached (Thorp, £165).

Enfield, Speaker, 1797. Charles Cox, June cat. 34, #28, rebacked, lightly foxed (£85).

Flaxman, Hesiod illustrations, 1817. SL, 6 Oct. 1986, #768, spotted, damp-stained (Bickersteth, £71); #801, with Aeschylus, Iliad, and Odyssey illustrations, n.d., all shabby (Roberts, £132). Phillips auction, London, 30 April, #80, spotted, some leaves loose (£35). California Book Auction, 3 Sept., #89, worn, foxed (not sold).

Flaxman, Iliad illustrations, 1805. SL, 17 Nov. 1986, #635, with Odyssey illustrations, 1805, both spotted (Philadelphia, £49); same copies, Philadelphia Rare Books, Feb. private offer ($300). Sevin Seydi, May cat., #332, with Odyssey illustrations, 1805, foxed, rubbed (£50). BBA, 16 July, #390, foxed, with Dante illustrations, “1793” (i.e., 1807?), disbound, spotted (D. & G. Dawson, £55).

Fuseli, Lectures on Painting, 1801. BBA, 3 Sept., #20, browned, rubbed (Fort, £93).

Gay, Fables, 1793. Frew Mackenzie, Jan. cat. 3, #55, 2nd ed., fine contemporary binding, 2 vols. (£240). Hobbyhorse Books, March cat. 9, #135, light browning on some pages, fine binding ($350). BBA, 23 April, #195, foxed, worn (Martin, £66). W. & V. Dailey, Oct. cat. 47, #113, 1st ed., some stains, 1 Blake pl. repaired ($200). Argonaut Book Shop, Dec. cat. 100, #16, 1st ed., some light foxing ($425).

Hamilton, English School. Charles Cox, June cat. 34, #30, vols. 1-2 dated 1833, vols. 3-4 dated 1832 (£120).

Hayley, Ballads, 1805. SL, 6 Oct. 1986, #770, spotted, bound with Gessner, Death of Abel, 1803, and sold with Blair, Grave, 1808 “folio” (but actually the quarto), spotted (Stern, £165); same copy of the Ballads, Jeffrey Stern, Jan. cat. 5, #457 (£550).

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Hayley, Life. . . of Cowper, 1803-1804. SL, 1 Dec. 1986, #174, 1st ed. (not sold). Howes, Jan. cat. 233, #163, 1st ed., with supplement of 1806 bound in vol. 3 (£220). Ximenes, Feb. cat. 77, #269, 2nd ed., with the supplement of 1806 bound in vol. 3 ($400). Andrew Stewart, Feb. cat. 21, #130, 1st ed. (£175). Claude Cox, spring cat. 60, #63, 1st ed., lacking half-titles (£150). Beeleigh Abbey Books, Sept. cat. 42, #68, apparently 1st ed., lacking half-titles, worn (£120). W. & V. Dailey, Oct. cat. 47, #138a, 1st ed., “old boards rebacked” ($250).

Hayley, Little Tom the Sailor, 1800. An unrecorded copy, printed in brown ink with colored washes added by hand. Reportedly from the S. V. Christie-Miller collection (but not in his sale catalogues), inscribed in pencil on the verso, “lot 243.” Mat burn on edges, 2 deckle edges. Andrew Edmunds, Dec. private offer (price on request only).

Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 1803. SL, 4 Dec. 1986, #168, spotted (Thomas, £198); same copy, A. G. Thomas, June cat. 49, #38 (£300). Quaritch, Feb. cat. 1066, #8, large paper, fancy binding, 1 pl. illus. (“sold”). Swann, 12 Feb., #26, few stains in text ($275). 19th Century Shop, June cat. 4, #176, “plates are quite special,” 1 illus., showing nothing special ($330). Ben Abraham Books, July cat., #127 ($650).

Hogarth, Works. SL, 10 Nov. 1986, #217, Baldwin and Craddock issue, c. 1835-1837, spotted, soiled (Barker, £264). Phillips auction, London, 30 April, #127, 1802 ed. (£480). SL, 17 June, #248, 1822 ed., worn, suppressed pls. inserted (McKenzie, £605). SNY, 18 June, #85, c. 1835-1837, some tears, spotting ($990). CL, 22 July, #98, c. 1830 (Schwing, £715).

Hunter, Historical Journal, 1793. SL, 18 Nov. 1986, #1241, quarto issue, soiled and worn (Maggs, £484). Lawson, Feb. cat. 230, #142, quarto issue, little foxing, rebacked (£1800). Blackwell’s, March cat. A86, #453, quarto issue, “tall copy,” tall price (£4200). CL, 8 April, #99, octavo issue, tears, wear (Colleary, £132).

Lavater, Aphorisms. C. R. Johnson, May cat. 20, #64, 1789 ed., rebacked (£160). W. & V. Dailey, July private offer, 1794 ed. with a previously unrecorded 2nd st. of the frontispiece (acquired by R. Essick; see illus. 2-4). California Book Auction, 30 July, #119, 1788 ed., worn, cover detached (not sold; estimate #80-120). SL, 9 Nov., #86, 1788 ed., original boards, worn (Korn, £99).

Lavater, Essays on Physiognomy. Charles Traylen, Jan. cat. 101, #361, 1789-1798 ed. (£595). Swann, 12 Feb., #200, 1810 ed. ($375). Bernard Shapiro, May cat. 1, #122, 1792 ed. (£400). Jeffrey Stern, Aug. cat. 6, #282, 1792 ed., “fine contemporary russia” (£725). Heritage Book Shop, Nov. cat. 167, #110, 1789-1798 ed., light foxing ($1500).

Malkin, Father’s Memoirs of His Child, 1806. Jeffrey Stern, Jan. cat. 5, #460, rebacked (£420). SL, 29 May, #1148, rubbed, with 15 other miscellaneous vols. (Henderson, £550). W. Thomas Taylor, Nov. cat. 46, #3, few leaves damp stained ($400).

Nicholson, Introduction to Natural Philosophy, 1787. SL, 28 May, #752, 2 vols., slight soiling (Maggs, £176).

Rees, Cyclopaedia, 1820. Charles Traylen, Jan. cat. 101, #946, complete set in 45 vols. (£1600). SL, 23 Feb., #34, 45 vols., worn (Grant, £902); #35, pls. vols. 4-6 only, spotted, worn (Eklliott, £154). BBA, 9 April, #114, 44 vols., no indication of what is missing (Fisher, £325).

Ritson, Select Collection of English Songs, 1783. Quaritch, Feb. cat. 1066, #9, fancy binding ($1250).

Shakespeare, Dramatic Works, Boydell’s ed., 1802. Frew Mackenzie, Jan. cat. 3, #147, 9 vols., “handsome set” (£1100).

Shakespeare, Plays. Howes, Jan. cat. 233, #95, 10 vol. issue of 1805, extra-illus. with 175 pls. from other eds. (£1250). BBA, 14 May, #68, 9 vol. issue of 1805, browned, spotted, worn (R. Clark, £77); same copy, Robert Clark, June cat. 9, #189 (£140). Spelman’s Bookshop, Dec. cat. 12, #159, 9 vol. reissue of 1812, spines cracked (£450).

Stedman, Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition. CL, 12 Dec. 1986, #260, 1813 ed., rebacked (no price list issued; estimate £200-300). Sims, Reed & Fogg, Jan. cat. 88, #45, 1813 ed. (£650). Bernard Shapero, May cat. 1, #190, 1813 ed., rebacked (£600). Strand Bookstore, Aug. private offer, 1806 ed., partly handcolored, lacking 2 pls., 1 by Blake ($350). Lloyd Books, Oct. cat. 3, #63, 1813 ed., uncut in original boards rebacked, 2 Blake pls. illus. ($1000). George Minkoff, Nov. cat. 87F, #8, vol. 1, 1806, vol. 2, 1813, “large paper,” pls. handcolored, contemporary calf repaired ($1250).

Stuart and Revett, Antiquities of Athens. BBA, 23 April, #356, 5 vols., 1762-1830, lacking 5 pls., worn, covers loose (Rainer, £1100). Sims, Reed & Fogg, June cat. 89, #178, 5 vols., 1762-1830, rebound (£5750—a record asking price?). CL, 22 July, #205, 4 vols., 1762-1816, minor tears, worn (Maggs, £2420).

Varley, Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy, 1828. Quaritch, Feb. cat. 1066, #7, uncut, washed, unbound in a folding box, title page illus. ($3000).

Virgil, Pastorals, 1821. SL, 4 Dec. 1986, #164, vol. 1 only, “original sheep,” 4 cuts illus. (Swales, £2420). Tokyo International Antiquarian Book Fair, Nov. cat. 127, #733, vol. 1 only, contemporary sheep in fitted case, offered by Marlborough Rare Books (£4000).

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Wit’s Magazine, 1784. Tokyo International Antiquarian Book Fair, Nov. cat. 127, #734, offered by Maggs (£1000). W. & V. Dailey, Dec. private offer ($1500).

Young, Night Thoughts, 1797, uncolored. SL, 4 Dec. 1986, #106, with Explanation leaf, pls. trimmed, worn, title page to Night the Third illus. (Shobo, £1100). SL, 17 June, #208, with Explanation leaf (repaired), leaves soiled, some gatherings misbound, title page to Night the Fourth illus. (Subunso, £1870).

UNIQUE BLAKEANA

A leather folding screen in 4 panels, approx. 7 ft. high. Embossed and painted decorations based on Blake’s “Chaucers Canterbury Pilgrims,” 2 sections on each panel. C. 1815-1850? Justin Schiller, Sept. private offer (price on request only).

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Ricketts, Charles. Design for the frontispiece to Blake, The Book of Thel [and] Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, 1897. India ink, 8.4 × 8.2 cm. Warrack & Perkins, Jan. cat. 66, #61, illus. (£4500).

Scott, William Bell. St. Matthew, a water color copy of Blake’s tempera painting (Butlin #396). Perhaps to be associated with Scott’s preparations for William Blake: Etchings from His Works (1878), in which this design, etched by Scott, appears as the 5th pl. Stone Gallery, Burford, Aug. private offer, now collection of Edwin Epps. See illus. 5.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, the beta copy of the early water color manuscript facsimile. Sold June 1986 by Justin Schiller to Colin Franklin, who soon after sold it to a private client.

BLAKE’S CIRCLE & FOLLOWERS

Works are listed under artists’ names in the following order: untitled paintings and drawings sold in groups, single paintings and drawings, letters and manuscripts, separate plates, books with plates by or after the artist.

BARRY, JAMES

Study of a Male Nude on Horseback. Pencil, pen, 45 × 31 cm. SL, 16 July, #50, illus. (£4180 on an estimate of £1200-1800).

“Philoctetes on the Island of Lemnos,” etching/engraving with touches of aquatint. SL, 29 June, #313, 2nd st., slight staining, illus. (£935); same impression, F. Mulder Prints, Oct. cat. 10, #31, illus. ($2500). See illus. 6.

BASIRE, JAMES

Rogers, Collection of Prints in Imitation of Drawings, 1778. CL, 22 July, #180 (Sims, Reed & Fogg, £3520).

CALVERT, EDWARD

Sheep Grazing. Oil, 15 × 24 cm., c. 1830? Agnew, June cat., #63 (not priced). See illus. 7.

“Bride,” engraving. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #108, from the Memoir, illus. ($1835).

“Brook,” wood engraving. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #109, from the Memoir, illus. ($955).

“Cyder Feast,” wood engraving. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #107, from the Memoir, illus. ($1530).

“Ploughman,” wood engraving. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #106, from the Memoir, illus. ($1530).

“Return Home,” wood engraving. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #110, from the Memoir, illus. ($955).

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FLAXMAN, JOHN

“Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted”: A Design for the Monument to Mary Blackshaw. Pen and gray wash, 6 × 6 ½ in. CL, 25 Nov. 1986, #8, illus. (£495).

Design for a Monument: A Seated Youth Clasping a Tablet. Pencil, pen, gray wash, 5 ⅜ × 5 ⅝ in. CL, 17 Nov., #2, with another drawing attributed to Flaxman (£220).

Design for a Vase with Hesiod and Victory Dedicating a Tripod to the Muses. Pen, gray wash, 26.5 × 20.5 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #75, illus. (£1430).

Family Group. Pencil, pen, gray wash, 9 ¼ × 6 in. CL, 10 Feb., #8 (£330).

Study of Miss Denman with Children of the Tulk Family. Pencil, 24 × 20 cm. SL, 19 Nov., #60, illus. (£1210).

Study of Struggling Figures. Pencil, pen, gray wash, 16 × 17 cm. SL, 16 July, #14, illus. (£495).

3 autograph letters signed, to Prince Hoare, 1803-1805. CNY, 19 Dec. 1986, #17, with 59 other letters by British artists ($3740).

Acts of Mercy. Jeffrey Stern, Aug. cat. 6, #268, water colors of the 8 designs “copied by Joseph Crawhall, 1843,” bound in an album 19 × 12 in. (£950).

Aeschylus illustrations, 1795. BBA, 18 June, light soiling, disbound (Maggs, £93).

Dante illustrations, 1807. Plandome Book Auction, 3 Dec., #146, foxed in margins, worn (estimate $125-175).

Eight Illustrations of the Lord’s Prayer, 1835. Ximenes, Feb. cat. 77, #226, rebound, some margins stained ($150).

The Keepsake for 1831. Claude Cox, Nov. cat. 35, #9, scarlet watered silk (£21).

Lectures on Sculpture. Daniel McDowell, March cat. 6, #297, 1829 ed. (£120). Sanders, Aug. cat. 112, #32, 1838 ed., presentation binding (£90). Marlborough Rare Books, Nov. cat. 124, #154, 1838 ed., spotted (£110).

FUSELI, HENRY

Callipyga. Pen and brown ink, 16 × 9.5 cm. SL, 20 Nov. 1986, #44, illus. color (£24,000).

Portrait of Lavinia de Irujo. Pencil, black chalk, 6 ⅛ × 7 ¼ in. CL, 17 Nov., #10, illus. (not sold; estimate £4000-6000).

Study of the Prophet Joel. Pen and brown ink, 10.5 × 6.5 cm. SL, 20 Nov. 1986, #56, illus. (£2420).

Woman in Chains (recto); A Figure (verso). Pencil and pen, 47.5 × 28 cm., a preliminary for “Inquisition,” one of Fuseli’s unpublished illustrations to Joel Barlow, Columbiad, 1807. SL, 16 July, #73, illus. color (£12,100).

Autograph manuscript, 2 pp. SL, 18 Dec. 1986, #311 (Wilson, £825). David Weinglass informs me that this is the manuscript of Fuseli’s comments on which Du Roveray based some of the statements on art in his edition of Gray’s Poems (1800), pp. xvii-xviii, xxiii-xxv.

“Hamlet, Act I, Scene IV,” engraved by Thew for Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery. Philadelphia Print Shop, June cat., p. 15 ($185).

Bell’s British Theatre, 1791-1798. Walford, Jan. cat. H/146, #61, vols. 2-9, 11, 12, 14-20, 22-34 only, with all pls. after Fuseli but lacking some by Stothard (£125).

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Bonnycastle, Introduction to Astronomy. Daniel McDowell, March cat. 6, #96, 1807 ed., (£60). BBA, 22 Oct., #30, 1796 ed., worn (Cavendish Rare Books, £77).

Boydell, Collection of Prints . . . Illustrating . . . Shakspeare, 1803. BBA, 16 July, #384, marginal waterstaining (Henderson, £1760).

Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, trans. Pope, 1805-1806. Swann, 15 Oct., #246, 12 vols. bound in 6, large paper, pls. in published proof state before inscribed verses, lightly foxed ($413).

Pope, Poetical Works, 1804. Swann, 15 Oct. #245, 6 vols. bound in 3, with Iliad and Odyssey, 1813, 12 vols. bound in 6 ($132). O’Flynn Books, Nov. cat. 29, #473, covers detached, one missing (£18).

Shakespeare, Plays and Poems, ed. Valpy, 1832-1834. Spelman’s Bookshop, Dec. cat. 12, #160, 15 vols., original cloth (£80).

Specimens of Polyautography, 1803. F. Mulder Prints, Oct. cat. 10, #65A, 12 lithographs on original mounts, including Barry’s “King Lear,” Fuseli’s “Woman Sitting by a Window,” and Stothard’s “The Lost Apple,” all 3 illus. (“price on request”).

Young, Catalogue of the . . . Collection of . . . Angerstein, 1823. Sims, Reed & Fogg, Jan. cat. 88, #439 (£45).

LINNELL, JOHN

Folio of 16 drawings attributed to Linnell and William Dixon. SL, 19 Feb., #124, 1 Linnell illus. (£1540).

Folio of drawings, water colors, and an oil sketch, 9 in all, attributed to John and James Thomas Linnell. SL, 19 Feb., #129 (£660).

Faggot Gatherer by a Wood. Oil, 19 × 30 cm. SL, 29 Oct. 1986, #307 (not sold).

Gleaner’s Return. Oil, 33 × 45.5 cm., signed and dated 1855-7. SL, 11 March, #81, illus. color (£17,600 on an estimate of £3000-5000).

Harvest Dinner. Oil, 99 × 135 cm., signed and dated 1860. SL, 23 June, #15, illus. color (£46,200).

Hoppers—Evening. Oil, 29 × 52 cm., signed and dated 1849. SL, 18 Feb., #338, illus. (£1430).

Meadow: Shepherds with their Flocks in a Field, by John and Elizabeth Ann Linnell. Oil, 35.6 × 45.4 cm., signed and dated 1860. CL, 5 June, #66, illus. (not sold).

Mountain Track. Oil, 70.5 × 98.5 cm., signed and dated 1869-75. SL, 11 March, #86, illus. color (£13,200).

Noonday Rest. Oil, 100.3 × 138.5 cm., signed and dated 1862. CL, 24 April, #50A, illus. color (McConnal-Mason Gallery, £46,200 on an estimate of £15,000-25,000). Advertised by McConnal-Mason in Country Life, 1 Oct., p. 114, illus. color (not priced).

Opening the Gate, or Changing Pastures on Hampstead Heath. Oil, 69 × 90 cm., signed and dated 1849. SL, 11 March, #80, illus. color (£15,400).

Passing the Orchard. SL, 11 March, #82, illus. color (£4400). The illus. makes one slightly suspicious of the attribution to Linnell.

Portrait of Thomas Cadby. Oil, 28 × 22.2 cm. Agnew, June cat., #47, illus. (not priced).

Portrait of John Chin. Oil, 28.8 × 22.2 cm., signed and dated 1816. CL, 5 June, #152, illus. (not sold).

Portrait of Henry Colman. Oil, 29 × 14 in. Martyn Gregory, April cat. 46, #21, illus. color (£25,000).

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Portrait of Thomas Hill. Oil, 22 × 19 cm., 1831. Agnew, June cat., #43 (not priced).

Portrait of Sarah Jackson. Oil, 5 1/4 × 4 1/4 in. Martyn Gregory, April cat. 46, #22, illus. (£1500).

Portrait of Miss Knighton. Oil, 15 × 12 in., signed and dated 1827. Martyn Gregory, April cat. 46, #19, illus. (not priced).

Portrait of the Hon. Jane Matilda Methuen. Water color, 44.5 × 35 cm., signed and dated 1844. SL, 20 Nov. 1986, #61, illus. (£1870).

Portrait of Miss Otway. Oil, 11 × 8 1/2 in., signed and dated 1821. Martyn Gregory, April cat. 46, #20, illus. (£4500).

Portrait of Fanny Sheppard. Pencil and colored chalk, 11 × 15 in. Martyn Gregory, April cat. 46, #23, illus. (£1250).

Potato Field on the Isle of Wight. Oil, 26 × 35 cm., signed, probably c. 1816. SL, 20 July, #122, illus. (not sold).

Shallows. Oil, 31 × 43 cm., signed. SL, 18 Nov., #73, illus. color (£13,200).

View of Mouse Bridge at the Foot of Hanson Toot, Derbyshire. Water color, 15 × 22.5 cm. SL, 19 Feb. #128, illus. (not sold).

Woodcutters near Redhill. Oil, signed, 39.5 × 68.5 cm. SL, 20 July, #120, illus. (£2200).

Young Harvester. Oil, 19 × 14.5 cm., signed and dated 1826. SL, 15 July, #117, illus. color (not sold).

Group of 6 prints, including lithograph portrait of a lady, hand colored “probably” by the artist, 1845; “Esparto,” 1846; and portrait of R. Gooch. SL, 16 April, #269 (not sold); same group, SL, 29 Oct., #242 (not sold).

MORTIMER, JOHN HAMILTON

Man Attacking Monster. Pen and ink, 28 × 21 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #47, illus. (£1870).

Salvator Rosa. Pen and ink, 28 × 21 cm., signed and dated 1776. SL, 19 Feb., #46, illus. (£4620 on an estimate of £1000-1500).

Study of a Pilgrim, with the Head of an Old Man Behind. Pen and ink, 13 in. diameter circle, in the style and format of Mortimer’s Shakespeare heads. CL, 14 July, #14, illus. (£1155).

Shakespeare’s Characters. A folio of 11 ink drawings after Mortimer’s etchings, manuscript title page dated 1833, with 2 of the original 12 etchings. Marlborough Rare Books, Nov. cat. 124, #46, “Richard II” illus. (£1100).

“Gerard de Lairesse,” etching, 1778. R. E. Lewis, Oct. cat., #25, signed in ink, soiled, illus. ($350).

“Ophelia,” etching. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #10, early impression, illus. ($270).

“Richard II,” etching. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #11, early impression, illus. ($270).

PALMER, SAMUEL

Boy Fishing. Oil, 45 × 28.5 cm., c. 1833-1835. Agnew, June cat., #40, illus. color (not priced). Previously sold as a work by Palmer and Linnell, SL, 21 Nov. 1984, #96 (£35,200).

The Brothers, Guided by the Attendant Spirit, Discover the Palace and Bowers of Comus. Water color, 53 × 75 cm., exhibited 1856. SL, 19 Nov., #144, illus. color (£55,000).

The Brothers in Comus Lingering Under the Vine. Water color, signed, 53 × 75 cm. SL, 20 Nov. 1986, #98, illus. color (£63,800). A lovely water color.

On Chaldon Down, Dorset. Oil, 28 × 39.5 cm., c. 1835. Announcement of sale by Spink & Son in Octagon, 24 (2 June 1987), p. 15, illus. (not priced).

Shanklin Church, Isle of Wight. Pencil, extensively inscribed, 7 1/2 × 9 1/4 in. CL, 25 Nov. 1986, #135 (not sold).

Sheep in the Shade. Water color, 14 3/4 × 20 7/8 in., signed, exhibited 1851. CL, 17 Nov., #212, illus. color (not sold; estimate £20,000-25,000).

View of Box Hill, Surrey. Oil, 24 × 41 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #123, illus. (£1430).

Will O’ the Wisp. Water color, 4 1/2 × 8 3/8 in. CL, 14 July, #232, illus. color (£13,200 on an estimate of £5000-7000). A very lovely small water color, dated by Raymond Lister to c. 1865.

“Bellman,” etching. SL, 2 Dec. 1986, #690, 7th st., 1929 printing, margins stained (£1045).

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“Early Ploughman,” etching. SL, 30 Oct. 1986, #447, 6th st., with “Rising Moon,” final st., foxed (£253); #448, same 2 pls. (not sold). Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #103, 5th st., illus. ($605); #104, 5th st. from Hamerton, Etching and Etchers ($385). SL, 16 April, #641, 3rd st., pencil signature (£220). SL, 29 June, #426, 5th st., minor soiling (£275).

“Herdsman’s Cottage,” etching. SL, 30 Oct. 1986, #446, 2nd st., slight staining (£154). SL, 14 April, #318, 2nd st. (£187). SL, 29 Oct., #439, 2 impressions of the final st., 1 foxed (£385).

“Lonely Tower,” etching. SL, 30 Oct. 1986, #450, impression from the cancelled pl. (not sold).

“Opening the Fold,” etching. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #105, 8th st. from Eclogues of Virgil, 1883, illus. ($690). SL, 16 April, #642, 8th st., pencil signature (£330).

“Rising Moon,” etching. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #102, 7th st., illus. ($690).

“Sleeping Shepherd,” etching. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #101, 3rd st., illus. ($2295).

“Weary Ploughman,” etching. SL, 29 Oct., #440, 8th st. on laid India, discolored (£308).

Etchings from the Art-Union, 1872, including Palmer’s “Morning of Life.” SL, 30 Oct. 1986, #445, worn (not sold).

Hamerton, Etching and Etchers, 1880, with Palmer’s “Herdsman’s Cottage.” SL, 29 Oct., #438 (not sold).

Keats, Poetical Works, ed. Forman. Jeffrey Stern, Jan. cat. 5, #415, 1883 ed., original buckram (£275). Howes, Jan. cat. 233, #718, 1889-1890 ed., original buckram (£150); same copy, June cat. 236, #1822 (£150).

Milton, Shorter Poems, 1889. Frew Mackenzie, Jan. cat. 3, #118, large paper, original parchment binding (£230). Swann, 5 Feb., #248, original cloth ($100). Lawson, May cat. 231, #154, large paper, original parchment (£165). A. G. Thomas, June cat. 49, #40, large paper, original parchment (£150).

Palmer, A. H., Life and Letters of S. Palmer, 1892. Frew Mackenzie, Jan. cat. 3, #128, large paper, original cloth (£170). Fine Art Catalogues, Feb. cat. 59, #170, rebound (£120). SL, 9 Nov., #97, original cloth (not sold).

Palmer, S., Address to the Electors of West Kent, 1832. Marlborough Rare Books, June cat. 36, #94 (£450).

Selection of Etchings by the Etching Club, 1865, including Palmer’s “Herdsman’s Cottage.” SL, 30 Oct. 1986, #444 (not sold).

RICHMOND, GEORGE (I have made one exception to my usual rule of not listing later portraits)

Self-Portrait. Oil, 76 × 63.5 cm. Agnew, June cat., #57, illus. (not priced). See illus. 8.

ROMNEY, GEORGE (excluding portrait paintings)

A Sketchbook, with 105 drawings on 59 leaves, 9 × 16 cm., mostly pencil. SL, 19 Feb., #91, with 4 sketchbooks by other artists, 1 Romney illus. (£3520 on an estimate of £500-700).

Horror (head of a horrified figure). Pencil, 26 × 40.5 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #88, illus. (£4180 on an estimate of £1000-1500).

Study for Emma Hart as Thetis Pleading with Achilles before Troy. Pencil, 28 × 42 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #95, illus. (£418).

Study of a Lady and Study of Figures with a Chariot. 2, pencil, pen, 14.5 × 18.5 cm. and slightly smaller. SL, 29 April, #90 (£330).

Study of a Woman. Pen and brown ink, 7 × 17.5 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #90 (£264).

Two Studies for Figures (a muse and ranting figures). Pencil, pen, 44.5 × 27.5 cm. and 11 × 19 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #89 (£605).

Waiting Souls. Brown wash over pencil, 27 × 21 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #92, illus. (£4400).

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RUNCIMAN, ALEXANDER

“Landing of St. Margaret in Scotland,” etching. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #13, 1826 printing, illus. ($152).

“Perseus and Andromeda,” etching. Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #12, the larger version, c. 1800, illus. ($230).

Edwards, Anecdotes of Painters, 1808, with 2 etchings by Runciman. Marlborough Rare Books, Nov. cat. 124, #152, large paper, original boards (£150).

STOTHARD, THOMAS

The Canterbury Pilgrims. Oil, 30.5 × 93 cm. SL, 29 Oct. 1986, #270, illus. (£3080). Stothard painted three versions of this subject: one for R. H. Cromek, exhibited in 1807, and later sold to Hart Davis (now in the Tate Gallery); a smaller panel painted in 1813 for Samuel Rogers (sold SL, 14 March 1984, #106 [£7700]); and the present example, originally painted for J. Benson of Doncaster in 1813.

Design for a Frieze. Oil, 13.5 × 90.5 cm. SL, 19 Feb., #94, illus. (£990).

Design for a Funerary Monument for a Gentleman. Grisaille, 20 × 14.9 cm. CL, 5 June, #196, illus. (£660).

Venus Arising from the Waves. Water color, 30.5 × 22.5 cm., signed. SL, 12 March, #110, illus. (not sold).

“Distinguishing Characteristics of Masonry,” engraving by Bartolozzi, 1802. CL, 19 May, #38 (£77).

“Sailors in a Fight” and “Sailors in a Storm,” 2 mezzotints by W. Ward, 1798. CL, 10 Nov., #29, minor defects (not sold).

“Lost Apple,” lithograph. SL, 30 Oct. 1986, #240, 3rd st., stained (not sold). Weston Gallery, Feb. cat. 1, #37, 3rd st., 1806 issue, lower right corner clipped off, illus. ($610).

Bijou, 1828. Monk Bretton, May cat. 17, #37 (£35). Bookpress, July cat. 32, #95, publisher’s leather spine and boards ($95). Jenkins Company, Oct. cat. 204, #363, publisher’s leather spine and boards, “spine burned away” ($45).

Bonnycastle, Introduction to Mensuration, 1812. Claude Cox, Sept. cat. 62, #10, worn (£20).

Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, the suite of 14 pls. after Stothard, imprints of 1788-1797. SL, 6 May, #157 (Chelsea, £93).

Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, 1857. Plandome Book Auctions, 5 Nov., #339, octavo, worn (estimate $50-75).

Collins, Poetical Works, 1800. J. W. Martin, Dec. cat. 135, #225 ($47.50).

Cowper, Poems, 1800. Thomas Thorp, March cat., #183, stained (£30).

Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, 1820. Sanders, March cat. 111, #403, worn (£125).

Enfield, Speaker, 1807. Howes, Jan. cat. 233, #178 (£18).

Gessner, Death of Abel, 1797. Claude Cox, Feb. cat. 58, #226 (£30).

Hayley, Triumphs of Temper, 1799. Deighton Bell, Aug. cat. 240, #85, rebacked (£35).

Inchbald, British Theatre, 1806-1808. Heritage Bookshop, Oct. private offer, bound set of complete proofs before letters except scratched signatures (Huntington Library, $325).

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Keepsake. Charles Cox, June cat. 34, #4, for 1835, silk covered boards (£20); Nov. cat. 34, #7, for 1829, red watered silk (£35); #8, for 1830, red watered silk (£20); #10, for 1832, red watered silk (£20); #12, for 1834, red watered silk (£35); #13, for 1835, red watered silk (£18).

Milton, Paradise Lost, Pickering ed., 1828 [1835]. Sanders, March cat. 111, #343 (£22).

Rogers, Italy. Charles Cox, Feb. cat. 33, #253, 1830 ed., all pls. proofs before letters, foxed (£20). BBA, 5 Feb., #181, 1830 ed., with Rogers, Poems, 1834 (Oram, £104).

Rogers, Pleasures of Memory. Frew Mackenzie, Jan. cat. 3, #140, 1810 ed. (£25). Swann, 12 Feb., #259, 1810 ed., “unique copy” on India paper from Rogers’ library, light foxing, fancy binding (Huntington Library, $325).

Rogers, Poems. Howes, Jan. cat. 233, #913, 1834 ed., with Rogers, Italy, 1835 (£145); #914, 1852 ed. (£50); #915, Poetical Works, 1869 (£75). Charles Cox, Feb. cat. 33, #252, “New Edition,” 1812 (the first of 3 of that date), rubbed (£35); #254, 1834 ed. (£20). Beeleigh Abbey Books, Sept. cat. 42, #231, 1838 ed., foxed (£50); 1860 ed. (£28). BBA, 8 Oct., #127, 1834 ed. (Schutze, £38).

Somerville, The Chase, 1800. Ewen Kerr Books, Nov. cat. 10, #319 (£50).

Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered, 1797. Blackwell’s, April proof list “Potter,” #50, large paper, extra-illus. with 20 seventeenth-century pls. (£150).

Walton, Complete Angler, Pickering ed., 1825. Sanders, March cat. 111, #346 (£45).

Young, Night Thoughts, 1798. Claude Cox, July cat. 61, #236, rebacked, marginal browning (£40). W. & V. Dailey, Oct. cat. 47, #1262, Hayley’s copy with his auction ticket on the front pastedown, rebacked, marginal staining ($250).

Note: See also FUSELI, above, for some books with illustrations after Stothard.

VON HOLST, THEODORE

Study of a Young Lady, after Fuseli. Pencil, 18 × 20.5 cm. SL, 29 April, #27, illus. (not sold).

Woman Restraining a Warrior and Woman Sewing. 2, pencil and traces of water colors, 29 × 28.5 cm. and 24 × 20 cm., both signed. SL, 19 Feb., #99 (£352).